Plastic is among the most common types of pollution on Earth and is rapidly making its way into the oceans. Research published in the journal Scienceestimated that at least 5.3 million tons of plastic debris entered the world's oceans in 2010.

On Friday, several environmentalists, financial experts and companies that manufacture and use plastic will meet in Dallas to work on tackling plastic pollution and potentially slow that flow.

This is one of two Plasticity Forums this year; the other is in Anaheim, Calif., in May. The annual conference moves around the world each year (Shanghai and London hosted in 2016) and tries to engage experts to find solutions.

Ryan Brown, CEO of Earth Day Texas, said the point of the event is "not to feel guilty for producing the plastic as much as they are [to] come up with solutions to keep the plastic out of the waste stream."

The forum, created by the Ocean Recovery Alliance, dovetails with the Earth Day Texas focus this year on ocean health.

The sessions on Friday, which are closed to the public, will include discussions about designing products to be more easily recyclable, standardizing products and making money from waste streams.

Doug Woodring, co-founder of Ocean Recovery Alliance, described Plasticity as a one-day MBA in plastic sustainability. They assemble experts who try to break logjams that hinder plastic waste solutions, whether that's a lack of scale that keeps costs high or outdated regulations.

In some places, efforts to turn recycled plastic into food-grade plastic or into fuel have been blocked by laws that Woodring said haven't kept up with technology.

Woodring said the forum looks for ways to reduce the amount of plastic consumers and businesses use and also ways to recycle the waste. He said no more than 15 percent of plastic is recycled.

Out of the conference, Woodring said, there have been success stories or at least promising starts.

After working with Plasticity, Austin-based Dell Computers has started using recycled plastic recovered from oceans in some of its packaging. Two manufacturers started a business relationship after one discovered that it could use the other's electronics waste. And, a national fast-food chain attended to research alternatives to Styrofoam.

Even though the effort was created to address ocean pollution, Woodring said, the work is relevant to everyone, even those who don't live near coastlines. Neighborhoods, creeks, rivers and lakes are all vulnerable to plastic pollution.

A couple of years ago plastic bag pollution was among the contentious issues at Dallas City Council.

Council member Dwaine Caraway led a successful effort to pass a 5-cent per bag city fee to discourage single-use bags, which contribute to litter. That ordinance was repealed by the council after about five months.

At Plasticity, the debates and discussions are expected to be much less dramatic and much more cooperative.

"If you bring two or three or four groups to solve one problem, it ends up making a big bang," he said. "It's really all about upstream solutions and innovation and where the world is going in this space. It's not about the beach cleanups or problems downstream."